I Reincarnated Into a Vending Machine - Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Against Ghosts

For Ramis to fall means, naturally, that I have also fallen on the floor with her, so right now the fainted Ramis is lying on top of me .

“Oi oi, I give up . For her to be this bad with it . ” (Keryoil)

“Even like this, she bore with it well compared to when she was a brat . We’ll carry Ramis to her room; what to do with Hakkon?” (Hyurumi)

Undoing the leather straps to Ramis’ cargo carrier, Leader Keryoil carried her over his shoulder . If I remain like this I’ll hinder the inn’s business, so I temporarily become the <Cardboard Vending Machine> .

“Like this anyone can carry him, na . Inn keeper, do ya mind if we put Hakkon in front of the inn?”

“Of course… this gentleman is the rumored… magic tool with a will, isn’t it? … Fufufu, how mysterious . ”

So this person is the inn’s inn keeper . She looks like it would suit her if she told fortunes on the side .

Hyurumi lifted me up in both arms and easily put me outside the inn . My current fixed position has become next to the door . Maa, that’s the most standard of standard places for a vending machine, so there are no problems .

“Seriously, she’s terrified, na . Always been like that . When there’s a scary story, she’d block both ears an’ scream, ‘A-,a-“ . How nostalgic . ” (Hyurumi)

The corners of the eyes of the reminiscing Hyurumi lowered, and she smiled with a gentle expression . Whatever you say, these two get along pretty well . When I see them talking together, there are times when I can’t see them as anything but close sisters .

“If she was actin’ like she usually does, she woulda run away a long time ago, but looks like she won’t give in this time . ” (Hyurumi)

If you’re that terrified, normally you’d cry and run away, na .

Perhaps she was doing her best because there’d be troubled people if there wasn’t someone who could carry me? If that’s so, I don’t want her to push herself to do the impossible, though .

“Hakkon . You’re thinkin’ about the wrong type of thing, aren’t ya? As for why Ramis stubbornly tries ta overcome her fear … –tte, it’s pointless if I tell you, na . ”

“Congratulations, you have won another . ”

I wonder what intent that statement had . It was a declaration that held deep meaning, so Hyurumi only looked at me from the corner of her eye and didn’t say anything more .

It’s something I should think of for myself, na . The reason she’s stubbornly trying to overcome it, huh? Like, for a girl who wishes to become stronger for revenge, there’s no point if she can’t overcome this degree of fear?

“Maa, ya seem to be thinking about it carefully . Well then, leave looking after Ramis to me . ”

So in the end she’s not going to tell me the answer . I want to lob questions at the leaving Hyurumi’s back, but I’m not bestowed with such words .
It’s unresolved, but I have the time so let’s leisurely think about it .

“O, what is this? Something weird with stuff lined up behind glass, huh? What is this?”

O-tto, it’s the first customer on the Lamentations of the Dead Level, huh? It’s a Hunter-like young man wearing metal armor . He brought his face close, like he was going to stick it to the glass, and peered in at the products .
Now then, let’s start the usual business .

“Welcome . ”

“Uwo-, who is it!? Is it you?”

“Naw, man . It sounded like the sound came from this box . ”

When one of his companions pointed it out, this time all three of them stared at me .

“Please insert the coins . ”

“Ooo-, this box is seriously talking . What does it mean, insert the coins?”

The three are just making a fuss, not knowing where to insert the coins, and just flusterdly making a commotion . Like I thought, just these words won’t make it clear, normally .

I’d normally have a signboard placed next to me, with a simple explanation of how to use me stuck on it, so even a newbie would be able to handle it, but today I have to deal with it from ground zero .

Before now I couldn’t do anything but repeat my words, but even I can come to understand my own body and functions . When I searched around for various methods, I was able to come up with a number of methods . That’s right, I’m a progressive vending machine .
First I covered the glass covering for the products and set up the <LCD Panel> . And then, I played a video there .

“Oo-, within the box is a woman . Nee-chan, do you know how to buy things here?”

The young man called out to the woman shown on the panel, but there’s no way a video recording would reply, and the displayed woman – Ramis ignored them and stretched out her hand grasping a coin .

And then, while she was lost, saying, “What should I get-,” with her forefinger held up, she moved and pressed her finger towards the viewer . After that, she bent over, and when she stood up she was holding corn soup in her hand . She twisted the lid open and drank it down like it was delicious .
There was were the recording ended, but I continued to repeat it .

“What does this mean? Why is the woman repeating the same thing over and over?”

“This is, ain’t it nn illusion? The woman shown is too small, right? And her movements are all exactly the same . ”

The three men grouped together and continued their discussion with this and that for a while, then reached a decision .

“So basically, this woman is showing us how to use this magic tool . Right?”

“Welcome . ”

It took some time, but they somehow arrived at the correct answer . This time they watched the video carefully, then one person who memorized how to use it came to buy a product .

“Alright, I’m buying it!”

“O-, so that’s how you do it . ”

“I see . ”

Before I knew it, people had gathered in the surroundings, admiring the Hunters who had safely bought a product . They seemed to be people who were interested but didn’t know anything about me, so they were observing .

“So you twist here to open it, na . And let’s try and drink it … ka-, delicious! It’s chilled ice-cold . It’s throughout my body . ”

His reaction became an advertisement more than anything, and kicked off the sales of products one after another . It’s unusual, and there are a lot of people who think it’s interesting and will buy tastes that can’t be experienced in this other world .
It’s a favorable start, na . Let’s make some earnings for a while, until Ramis says she wants to return .

—

I understood to some degree while selling products, but hot products really sell well on this level . As for the inhabitants’ clothes, a lot of people are wearing thick clothing, so no matter how you think about it, it seems to be cold even if it’s not winter .

The Seiryu Lake Level had a temperature close to early summer, but the climate here is the exact opposite . The customers’ breaths aren’t white, so it’s probably somewhere around 10 degrees C .

While I was thinking that, the customer traffic subsided, and the shadows of people on the streets also lessened . The gloomy surroundings have become completely black; apparently evening has fallen .

Even if it was gloomy during the day, the there’s a wide difference in the brightness between evening and daytime . There are also streetlights within the community, but it’s like the darkness is eroding the light; I can’t say that a miniscule amount of light makes it bright enough even if I was being polite .

I’ve experienced countless nights after I became a vending machine, but this dark night gives me an unpleasant feeling . It’s like an unnatural darkness . There’s light from the surrounding buildings’ windows, but it’s only bright there, without illuminating the surroundings at all .

A black world only dotted with small pockets of light; other then that it’s a consistent darkness . If it’s this dark, of course no one wants to walk around, huh? With no background noise as well, it feels like you won’t be able to tell the difference between reality and imagination; it’s a fantastic sight .

Seems like this is why they call it the Lamentations of the Dead . This darkness most likely has some special characteristic . Even if you’re going to subjugate monsters, you’d move during the day, avoiding the night .

I went into energy-saving mode, since there isn’t a single person around and I can’t do business, from the opposite direction, some sort of dim light came over .

I guess it’s someone carrying a light in their hand . That light gradually gets bigger as it gets closer, but I’m getting a bad feeling from that light .

The person the light should have been illuminating isn’t there . That light is floating by itself . While swaying back and forth, if there’s a person, the height should remain the same as it draws closer .

I can’t help but have a bad feeling . If I had feet I’d immediately run away and hide in the inn, but unfortunately I’m a vending machine and have no way of escaping .

I thought my spirit became strong when I got this body, but looks like that was my misunderstanding . An odd sound reverberates from the parts within my body . So I, who became a vending, seems to be a bit shaken…

Stuck somewhere between fear and curiosity, I steeled my eyes and observed carefully .
It’s a skeleton clad in flames . –tte, that’s a flaming-rook-head-demon, ain’t it!?
What the, I was scared for nothing . Normally it would be a scene of horror, but after knowing its weakness and defeating them many times, there’s no need to be afraid after all this time .

After knowing their true identities, I have the presence of mind to spare . My fear has disappeared, but the problem is that monsters are appearing within the community, na . When it became night, monsters wander about the community like they own the place, so people can’t carelessly go out at night, huh?

In the span of time I was thinking of that, other skulls wrapped in flames appeared . There are eight just within the range I can see . For some reason they’re wandering without going inside the buildings, so I can’t understand their objectives at all .

Huh-, this time it’s a flaming-rook-head-demon appearing together with a skeleton . This guy’s just a skeleton with a head, na . Ah, no, for it to be moving isn’t normal, huh? O- a half-transparent human came out … it’s become an outdoor haunted house .

If it’s just these, no matter how grand the number there is, I won’t be afraid, na . Rather than that, the horror-factor is rather light . The ghost-like half-transparent people are also wearing normal clothes, just walking around; if they’re to scare people, I’d like more of a gimmick . If their lower halves were torn off, dragging their innards around, groaning with a bitter voice and running; I’d like them to imitate parts of Japanese ghosts .

Even though I’m leisurely observing, no matter which monster, none of them are going into the buildings . Could the inhabitants of this community be taking some kind of measures against them?

I activated <Barrier> just in case, but the monsters aren’t coming over . Seems like they don’t have any interest in me .

From now on we’ll be exploring this level, so it won’t be such a bad idea to try all sorts of things, na . Do I have any anti-undead products?
N-, the typical thing would be salt?
Salt, huh… seems like there’d be some, but surprisingly that’s one of the products not put in a vending machine . If it’s rock salt I did buy some, so why don’t I try it once?

The rock salt, in a clear, cylindrical case, fell into the retrieval slot; erasing just the case, I try launching the rock salt out of the <Barrier> . I was aiming at a skeleton, but my aim was went off, hitting a ghost dead-center – and passing through . Is it just the ghosts that won’t receive physical attacks?
The monsters just glanced at the rock salt rolling around on the ground, not showing any particular reaction . So that means there’s absolutely no effect .

Other things that seem like they’d have an effect are … a, I wonder what those would do . At the <Buddha Vending Machine> in a famous city in Kyoto that’s a studio park, I had purchased Buddha statues and prayer beads .

It’s in the top ten of the novelty products I know of . You might not believe it, but they really are selling those . It’s quite small, enough to fit in your hand, but they’re proper Buddha statues .

If the opponent is a ghost, it might have some effect . I ejected two of those Buddha statues and a set of prayer beads that I had purchased back then out of the <Barrier> and carefully watch over it .

The monsters were interested in the mysterious objects and came near, but they don’t seem to have any effect . No, it could be because there weren’t enough . I’ll try as many as I’m able .

—

“Yo-, Hakkon . Did ya sleep last night … Uwooo-, what is all this!? Why are there weird-shaped dolls and stones rollin’ on the ground?”

It’s already morning, huh? Yesterday I was trying out the effects of rock salt and Buddha statues with the monsters as opponents, but I guess I pulled an all-nighter until the morning .
I thought it was a good idea, but this other world’s denomination is different, huh-?